Button



(No Model.)

W. BOURKE.

BUTTON.

No. 391,398. Patented Oct. 23, 1888.

NITED STATES WILLIAM BOURKE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent'No. 391,398, dated October 23, .1888.

Serial No. 268,020. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BOURKE, of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Buttons, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact deseription,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Myinvention has relation to that class of buttons wherein the basepiece or shoe and the top piece are made movable with respect to each other, to facilitateinsertion in or removal from the button-hole, and particularly to that style wherein the movable part is so arranged that when down it will extend substantially in the direction of the prolongation of the shank or stem by which the top and bottom of the button are connected.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple, cheap, durable, and easily-operating button of few and simple parts, to make the spring-plate simple and effective, and of such construction that it may be easily made and mounted securely in place, being connected with the top plate of the movable part and embodying recesses which receive the projections on the shank, and to make the movable part or shoe compact, so that it may easily pass through the button-hole.

To accomplish all of this my improvements involve a novel and useful arrangement or combination of parts constituting a button, as will be herein first fully described, and then pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the top part of the button, the base or shoe being detached, showing the edge of the shank; and Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the face of the shank. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the slotted plate which constitutes the top plate or cover of the movable part or shoe. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the spring-plate detached. Fig. 5 is aplan of the bottom of the movable part of the shoe. Fig.

6 is a sectional view on a plane through line w w of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 represents two sectional views-one on a plane through line 3 y and one on a plane through line 2 z of Fig.4. Fig.8 isa sectional view on a plane through the center of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is a side elevation, and Fig. 10 a vertical section, of the complete button, showing the base-piece turned across the end or at right angles with the shank. Fig. 11 is a vertical section, and Fig. 12 a view in elevation, of the complete button, showing the base-piece turned down read y to be passed through the button'hole.

In all the figures like letters of reference wherever they occur indicate corresponding parts.

I have shown the basepiece as the part hinged upon the shank; but obviously the top might be hinged, if preferred, or one or both parts hinged, as when the improvement is applied upon or in connection with links, (commonly known as link buttons or cufflinks.

A represents the top of the button, and B the shank secured thereto or thereon. The top may be of any form and the attachment with the shank of any kind so long as it is secure. The lower part of the shank is inclined with respect to the upper part, as shown,.the two parts forming an angle with each otherof degree proper to permit the hinged part to drop down so as to occupy a position about at right angles to the top part of the button, and when down to lie nearly in the prolongation of the straight part of the shank.

C is the top plate or cap of the base-piece, D the bottom plate, and E the spring and bearing plate, the plates 0 and D forming the shell which contains the spring and bearing plate E, and accommodates the lower end of the shank.

The shank is opener has a central recess, substantially as shown, and upon its lower end are two projections, as a a. The spring and bearing plate E is recessed, as at b b, and slotted, as at c 0. Between the slots 0 c is the spring-tongue d,which bears upon the lower margin of the recess in the shank, the two branches of the shank moving within the slots 0 0, and the projections a a moving in the re cesses b 6, these parts constituting the hinge, of which the recesses b b may be regarded as the fulcrums. In this way the plate E is made to answer for the hearing or hinge plate,and also for the spring-plate, requiring no separate plate for either purpose, as in former constructions. This plate may be made of any suitable spring met-alas steel, brass, 850.

The top plate is slotted, as at e e, to permit the movements of the shoe upon the shank, or the shank with respect to the shoe.

To render the assembling of the parts easy and convenient, the spring and bearing plate E is recessed, as at f f, to receive the narrow projections g g of the top plate, 0. These two plates being placed together and the projections 9 g suitably bent into the recesses provided for them and turned in upon the plate E, they are securely fastened together, so that one cannot move with respect to the other. Ihe tongue d or spring part being then passed into the recess in the shank and the projections a a entered in the recesses 12 b, the bottom plate has only to be applied and headed or turned over by any suitable tool, when the mounting is complete. The spring and hearing plate, being secured to the top plate, cannot get out of position during use of the button, and, since the spring-plate bears on the top plate, the strain is divided between the top and bottom plates in a manner well calculated to insure the durability of the button. The construction also enables me to make the shoe comparatively flat and compact, so that it may be easily passed through the buttonhole.

The union of the spring and bearing plate With the top plate, 0, renders it easy to assemble the parts of the shoe-a somewhat difficult operation in former constructions involving separate springs and bearing-plates. 5

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new herein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described button, consisting of a top piece, the bent and recessed shank, the 40 movable part mounted on the shank and having a slotted top plate, a bottom plate, and a plate between the top and bottom plates provided with recesses to receive the hinge projections on the sides of the shank, and consti- 3 tuting both a spring and bearing plate, of which the springtongue presses the bent shank toward the bottom of the movable part, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 50 have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM BOURKE.

\Vitnesses:

W. J. lVIORGAN, WORTH OSGOOD. 

